I saw Jandek play last night, Nov. 12, in Davis (if anyone else was there maybe you can add another perspective). Jandek played with three local musicians, as is his tradition and I know Emil has played with him, a guitarist, bass player, and percussionist. Having not heard much of Jandek's music beyond his acoustic and spoken word recordings I may just be unfamiliar with his live sound. It seemed as though the set was hijacked by a guitarist who had obnoxiously loud feedback for the majority of the set and a bassist who used effects and slides more than anything resembling a bassline. The tidbits of Jandek that slipped through the self satisfactory wanking were the best bits of the show. Other than the percussionist (who was doing interesting stuff and listening to everyone else) no one was listening to Jandek. I am curious what caused this breakdown? I assume that it is just the risk he takes playing only with local musicians, but really felt that the show got hijacked by wannabe Hendrix antics and $5,000 worth of gear producing piercing feedback. Does anyone have similar experiences or some insights?

but the Jandek show i saw a few years ago was far different from his few albums that i like the most. really tense and thoroughly enjoyable however. i don't remember who the backing band was but the were not local. the whole deal was captured, audio and video, as well but there still isn't a disc to show for it...

and KARLS,, yeah,, he usually doesn't have anything to do with picking the players,, which can lead the crowd to some pretty unforeseen places... the entire responsibility lies on the promoter who's setting up the show and probably paying for most of it,, and that person could just be the slobby guy that lives next to yr dorm room who experiences the world thru his potato-chip-stained keyboard, cramming gummy bears and lecturing on that Smashing Pumpkins double-album or whatever if he's got the money and determination to bring the man to yr town... our Seattle show hasn't come out yet but the Portland double CD has some great moments fer sure>>>

portland thursday was my first listen to Jandek before even knowing anything about him but it rung out pretty true in my headat first i was ummin n ahhhhin, but after a couple of listens i was right into itall my mates wrote it off and constantly scoff when i put it onbut i think its a pretty crucial unique jamoutit definitely was a good combo of people that nightemil's beats sound wonky as fuck.......its fkn brilliant man

Thanks for the clarification, I was just kind of put off by how the other musicians played. If i wanted to hear thirty minutes of feedback i could just turn on an amp in my house, not pay money to sit through a set of ruined songs. Interesting that he would give the show coordinator that much responsibility.

also, (related this time...) stage volume/balance and what the audience gets are pretty different depending on how loud things are off the floor/size of the venue/etc. i may have been sounding alright up there and the sound guy could have been slacking or inexperienced and made a mess of the house mix.

There's too much to say about Janky and all that he has brought this world in his special way,,, I'm still on the Jandek mailing list but don't read it that closely... to show the weird disparities in reactions to his shows, check out these reviews of the same show you saw from the mailing list::...

"The Representative also used a variety of keyboard sounds for the different pieces, including swooping electronic drones, regular piano, something reminiscent of a gamelan, and even some repetitive rhythmic loops. The back-up players kept it interesting with occasional jazzy bass picking, bowed banjo, and the varied percussion. The overall mood was relaxed, with a stretched out feel. It was very atmospheric and conducive to closing the eyes (a sentiment echoed by other audience members). However, there was also intentional piercing feedback and overpowering bass drones on occasion."

and

"The guitar playing alternated between bluesy to rock riffs to brutal noise. The next to last song , he threw his guitar on the ground, breaking part of it off, but still making noise from it. Kurt Cobain would be proud! And oh my god, the percussion! Some songs it was just the drum kit or the bongo/djembe, and others had it all. I honestly hope Corwood puts this one out soon because the lyrics were so great but I couldn't make out a bunch of them and was too in awe of the playing to remember much else. 10 out of 10. Another Corwood classic!"

I rarely have the problem of music "clicking" with me, I either like it or I don't (and even then I feel obligated to explore further to be sure I don't like it). But Jandek resides in this area that I am not comfortable having him in, the "I really want to dig this, but..." area. I can't even explain why I am hesitant to submit.

Perhaps I have not heard what I should be hearing, or perhaps I am trying too hard.

"The Representative also used a variety of keyboard sounds for the different pieces, including swooping electronic drones, regular piano, something reminiscent of a gamelan, and even some repetitive rhythmic loops. The back-up players kept it interesting with occasional jazzy bass picking, bowed banjo, and the varied percussion."

The overall mood was relaxed, with a stretched out feel. It was very atmospheric and conducive to closing the eyes (a sentiment echoed by other audience members). However, there was also intentional piercing feedback and overpowering bass drones on occasion."

Ok the percussion was really good as well as Jandek, but there was hardly any dynamic from the bass or guitar. A lot of the time the feedback was going over Jandek's voice which was quite a bummer. And if echoing the sentiment meant half of the audience leaving I guess that's true. At hardly any point did I feel the mood was mellow, I guess that I just had a different reaction. The problem I am struggling with is that I like Jandek and noise music also, but felt that the show turned out to be neither.

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